An apparatus and method for spraying or sprinkling granular material

ABSTRACT

A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material comprising a receiving member, for example a bar or plate, having a receiving recess preferably a V-shaped groove on its top surface onto which material is directed from a hopper in a continuous stream. The receiving member is oscillated through a defined amplitude of oscillation in order to cause the material to fall off at least one edge of the receiving member and be distributed in a uniform sprinkling pattern for example for applying it onto foodstuffs or applying it in a uniform stream. The receiving member is oscillated by a rotatable driving member having an eccentric drive which oscillates a connecting crank member or buffer which in turn oscillates a sleeve member which is adjustably secured to a shaft of the receiving member. Changes in amplitude may be effected in accordance with the angle at which the sleeve member is engaged with the shaft of the receiving member and this may be adjusted by means of an adjustable clamping screw on the sleeve member. In the method of the invention, granular material is arranged in a hopper which is provided with a discharge directly above the surface of the oscillating member. The material is permitted to fall out of the hopper onto the member and the member is oscillated to cause a portion of the stream to fall off one edge thereof.

United States Patent [191 Yoshioka m1 3,771,696 [451 Nov. 13, 1973 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SPRAYING OR SPRINKLING GRANULAR MATERIAL Yoshitomo Yoshioka, 23-23 2-chome, Naka lkegami, Ohta-ku, Tokyo, Japan Filed: Dec. 28, 1971 Appl. No.: 212,956

lnventor:

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 27, 1971 Japan 46/9813 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1934 Montgomery 222/199 X 3/1895 McPherson 222/199 5/1960 MacDonald 222/199 4/1971 Altmann 222/363 ,Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg Attorney-.lohn J. McGlew et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material comprising a receiving member, for example a bar or plate, having a receiving recess preferably a V-shaped groove on its top surface onto which material is directed from a hopper in a continuous stream. The receiving member is oscillated through a defined amplitude of oscillation in order to cause the material to fall off at least one edge of the receiving member and be distributed in a uniform sprinkling pattern for example for applying it onto foodstuffs or applying it in a uniform stream. The receiving member is oscillated by a rotatable driving member having an eccentric drive which oscillates a connecting crank member or buffer which in turn oscillates a sleeve member which is adjustably secured to a shaft of the receiving member. Changes in amplitude may be effected in accordance with the angle at which the sleeve member is engaged with the shaft of the receiving member and this may be adjusted by means of an adjustable clamping screw on the sleeve member. In the method of the invention, granular material is arranged in a hopper which is provided with a discharge directly above the surface of the oscillating member. The material is permitted to fall out of the hopper onto the member and the member is oscillated to cause a portion of the stream to fall off one edge thereof.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to granular material dispensing devices and, in particular, to a constant amount diffusion apparatus for powder or particles comprising a novel start and regulating mechanism linked to an overflow spray mechanism of simple construction and high efficiency, said apparatus being capable of smoothly spraying calcium chloride, powdered sugar, chemical seasonings or the like onto fried cakes (such as potato chips) or other processed foodstuff being conveyed by a belt conveyor without absorbing moisture.

The present invention relates to a constant amount diffusion apparatus for powder or particles which is simple in construction, of low manufacturing cost and of high efficiency, said apparatus being capable of spraying a various sorts of seasonings rapidly and at constant rate onto processed foodstuff on a conveyor belt which is being transported to drying station after finishing a frying processyby a very simple regulation operation.

This invention relates to a constant amount diffusion apparatus for seasoning powder or particles characterized by a simple adjustment and a rocking overflow spray mechanism with a buffer means, said apparatus being capable of uniformly spraying calcium chloride, powdered sugar, chemical seasonings or the like onto undried fired cakes or other fried foodstuff being trans-. ported by a conveyor belt, with ease and at high efficiency, while maintaining the stuff to be sprayed .in dried condition and permitting the adjustment of amount of spray and density as desired.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART flange to one end of an elongated receiving plate hav- I ing a V-shaped groove engraved on an upper surface 7 thereof and securing an interlock sh'aft through a flange to the other end of said receiving plate, journaling both of said shafts horizontally by means of bearings to a traverse of a frame, threadably fitting a cylindrical cap with a bottom member to one end of said interlock shaft, mounting'a bearing on an eccentric projection of a coupling directly coupled to a main shaft of a motor,

vertically mounting on an upper surface of said bearing an interlock lever having a buffer member coupled at its upper end, interconnecting said cap with said buffer member by a horizontalinterlock lever, mounting a hopper abovesaid receiving plate so that it can move up and down freely, and providing a voltage meter sep- It has been extremely difficult to spray seasoning 4 powder or particles uniformly and at a constant rate over a wide area and many attempts have been made to accomplish this. The known devices are unsatisfactory because they do not provide a satisfactory spary distribution, the manufacturing costs are high and it is difficult to obtain a uniform operation. A known mechanism includes the depositing of. a granular material from a hopper onto an elongated roller with a spiral groove which rotates below the hopper and which is engaged by a brush in order to sweep the material which is collected off its surface after it is deposited on its surface from the hopper. The brush is usually carried on a surface of an opposing roller which is adapted to be rotated in an opposite direction to the grooved roller.

With such a mechanism, the granular materials for example, a salt, becomes solidified due to the moisture absorption by the brush especially in a high humidity environment, and this tends to disturb the diffusion operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION arately.

It is an object of the present invention to economically provide a constant amount diffusion device for seasoningpowder or particles, which allows any desired adjustment of amount of overflow and deposition and density of the powder or particles to be sprayed, by forming a scalene V-shaped groove with apexes of different height at its upper end and securing a pair of flanges, securing to one of said flanges an interlock shaft having releasably and threadably engaged by an adjustment screw with a cylindrical cap with a bottom member and securing a supporting shaft to the other flange, journaling the above assembly horizontally on a traverse of a frame by a pair of bearings, mounting a hopper in an upper frame member of said frame and threadably mounting the hopper on an upper edge of said frame so that the hopper can be moved up and down freely, coupling upper side of a cover of a bearing mounted on a coupling directly coupled to a main shaft of a motor to said cap by means of an interlock lever perpendicular to said bearing cover and an interlock lever parallelto said main shaft of the motor, through the interposition of a buffer member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present ivnention in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of entire apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG; 2 is aside elevational view, partly in section, of start section; and v 1 FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a spray mechanism.

GENERAL'DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT nected to a shaft portion 12. The shaft portion 12 is rotatably mounted in bearings 20 and 21 carried on a frame 28.

In accordance with the invention, the material 26 falls directly out of the hopper 25 into a receiving groove or recess defined on the top surface of the receiving member 11. The groove is advantageously made of V-shaped configuration and includes an inner edge a which is higher than an outer edge b and it is oscillated through a path such that a uniform spilling over of the material from the lower edge b is accomplished whenever the edge is moved downwardly to the location shown in dotted lines b so that a uniform spout spraying or distribution 26' of the material is accomplished. In accordance with a feature of the invention, th shaft 12 which is connected to the receiving member 11 is oscillated through a defined period of oscillation in order to achieve any desired dispensing of the matieral from the hopper in a sprinkle pattern. For this 7 purpose, the shaft 12 is oscillated by a driving motor 23 which is advantageously a variable speed drive which drives through an eccentric mechanism 16 to a buffer or adjustment'drive 14 which includes an arm 17 which is connected to a tubular cap 13 which fits over the end of the shaft 12. The buffer 14 is connected to the shaft by an adjustable clamping screw 22 on the cap 13 which may be oriented to engage the shaft at a desired location in order to produce the desired shaking movement of the receiving member to effect the desired overflow and spillage of the powder in the amount desired in order to regulate the spray pattern.

The motor 23 includes a drive shaft 23- connected to a coupling member 16 of the eccentric mechanism which has an eccentric part 16" which engages in a bearing member 15. The bearing member is carried at the lower, end of a connecting rod 18 of the buffer mechanism 14 so that it moves upwardly and downwardly in the direction of the double arrowshown in FIG. 2. This causes the buffer mechanism 14 to oscillate the tubular member or cap 13. The oscillatable movement is transmitted to the shaft 12 and the start and stop of this movement is regulated by the point of engagement of the cap with the shaft 12. A voltage regulator 24 is advantageously mounted on the frame 28 and provides means for controlling the speed of the drive motor 23.

In accordance with the method of the invention, granular material is arranged in a hopper having an elongated relatively small size lower opening permitting the outward downfeed of material onto a receiving surface which is defined on the top of a receiving member 11. The receiving member is oscillated in a manner to cause the material to move off at least one edge when it is brought downwardly by an amount to open the end of the hopper and permit outward flow of the material from the hooper and off the edge of the receiving member.

The apparatus of the present invention is constructed by forming a scalene V-shaped groove having a pair of flanges 19, 19' secured at the opposite ends thereof and having apexes a, b of different height at the top sides thereof, securing to the flange 19 an interlock lever 12 having a cylindrical cap 13 with a bottom member releasably and threadably engaged by an adjustment screw 22 and securing to the flange 19 a support shaft 12', journaling said assembly horizontally on a traverse of a frame 28 through bearings 20, 21, inserting a hopper 25 into upper frame member of the frame 28, securing lower open end of the hopper to upper edge of the frame 28 by screws such that said open end can move into and out of said V-shaped groove and can move up and down'freely, mounting a ball bearing 15 to an eccentric projection 16' of a coupling 16 directly coupled to a main shaft 23' of a motor 23, interconnecting an upper side of a cover for the ball bearing 15 with the cylindrical cap 13 through a buffer member 14 by an interlock lever 18 perpendicular to the bearing cover and an interlock lever 17 parallel to a main shaft 23', and mounting on one side of the frame 28 a voltmeter 24 for adjusting the density of powder or particles to be sprayed. The apparatus is started with the powder or particles 26 supplied thereto. Since the coupling 16 has the eccentric projection 16'', it imparts vertical movement to the vertical interlock lever 18 through the cover of the beraing 15 while maintaining a smooth sliding motion with the bearing 15. However, the amplitude of said vertical movement is reduced by the buffer member 14 so that the swing of the receiving plate 11 in left and right directions due to the sliding movement of the interlock shaft 12 and the cylindrical cap 13 connected to the horizontal interlock lever 17 which, in turn, is directly connected to the buffer member 14, can be controlled as desired through a simple release and lock operation of the adjustment screw 22. The hopper 25 is also mounted on the frame 28 such that it can be freely moved up and down. Delicate adjustment of the amplitude for the receiving plate 11 may be made depending upon the increase or decrease of the voltage indicated by the voltmeter 24. Thus, with the three systems mentioned above, the adjustment of the amount of spray and the density of the powder or particles 26 is accomplished with ease. More particu larly, the adjustment screw 22 may be locked or released, or the voltage may be increased or decreased to adjust the amplitude of the receiving plate 1 1 as desired for increasing or decreasing the amount of powder or particles 26 to be sprayed. Furthermore, the hopper 25 may be moved up ordown to increase or decrease the amount of the powder or particles 26 to be sprayed. The powder or particles 26 supplied from the lower open end of the hopper 25 are prevented from falling onto the higher apex a of the V-shaped groove but overflowed from the lower apex b by the vibration of the receiving plate 11 to accomplish spray operation.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material comprising,'a receiving member having a receiving surface for the granular material and having a shaft portion, means mounting said receiving member and said shaft portion for oscillatable movement, supply means for supplying granular material to the surface of said receiving member, and oscillatable drive means connected to said shaft portion for oscillating said shaft portion through a defined period of oscillation to cause said receiving member to be oscillated and to cause the receiving surface to periodically tilt downwardly to permit flow of the granular material from said supply means and off the surface in a selected sprinkling pattern, said oscillatable drive means comprising a drive motor having a rotatable shaft, an eccentric driven by said shaft, and an adjustable buffer -mechanism between said eccentric and said shaft portion which is reciprocated by said eccentric and which produces an oscillation of shaft, said buffer mechanism including a first arm member connected to said shaft and a second arm member connected to and oscillatable by said eccentric, said first arm member having a cap portion, and means on said cap portion for adjustably clamping said cap portion to said shaft portion of said receiving member.

2. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material, according to claim 1, wherein said means for supplying granular material comprises a hopper having an elongated relatively narrow discharge opening at its lower end, said receiving member being disposed below said narrow opening in the path of the material, said receiving member having a substantially V-shaped groove defined in the receiving surface thereof.

3. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material, according to claim 2, wherein said V-shaped groove is made with one side defining a discharge for the granular material of a lower height than the opposite side, said receiving member being oscillated so that the one side is moved downwardly during each oscillation period to permit a discharge and sprinkling of the material from said hopper and off the surface of said receiving member.

4. A constant amount diffusion apparatus for seasoning powder or particles capable of spraying seasoning powder or particles rapidly and at a constant rate without appreciable moisture absorption, said apparatus comprising a receiving plate having a scalene V-shaped V groove with a pair of flanges secured to the respective opposite ends thereof and having apexes of different height at upper portion thereof, a support shaft secured to one end of said plate, an interlock shaft secured to the other end of said plate, a frame having a traverse bearing means journaling said shafts horizontally to said traverse of said frame, a motor having a main shaft with an eccentric coupling an adjustment assembly detachably mounted on said interlocking shaft for rotation therewith and connected to said eccentric coupling, said adjustment assembly including a sequentially interconnected vertical interlock lever, a buffer member and a horizontal interlock lever, with the interposition of a cylindrical cap having a bottom member, a hopper on said frame having a lower open end above said receiving plate so that said V-shaped groove moves backwardly and forwardly therebelow to intermittently receive and discharge material from said hopper during operation of said motor. 

1. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material comprising, a receiving member having a receiving surface for the granular material and having a shaft portion, means mounting said receiving member and said shaft portion for oscillatable movement, supply means for supplying granular material to the surface of said receiving member, and oscillatable drive means connected to said shaft portion for oscillating said shaft portion through a defined period of oscillation to cause said receiving member to be oscillated and to cause the receiving surface to periodically tilt downwardly to permit flow of the granular material from said supply means and off the surface in a selected sprinkling pattern, said oscillatable drive means comprising a drive motor having a rotatable shaft, an eccentric driven by said shaft, and an adjustable buffer mechanism between said eccentric and said shaft portion which is reciprocated by said eccentric and which produces an oscillation of shaft, said buffer mechanism including a first arm member connected to said shaft and a second arm member connected to and oscillatable by said eccentric, said first arm member having a cap portion, and means on said cap portion for adjustably clamping said cap portion to said shaft portion of said receiving member.
 2. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material, according to claim 1, wherein said means for supplying granular material comprises a hopper having an elongated relatively narrow discharge opening at its lower end, said receiving member being disposed below said narrow opening in the path of the material, said receiving member having a substantially V-shaped groove defined in the receiving surface thereof.
 3. A device for spraying or sprinkling granular material, according to claim 2, wherein said V-shaped groove is made with one side defining a discharge for the granular material of a lower height than the opposite side, said receiving member being oscillated so that the one side is moved downwardly during each oscillation period to permit a discharge and sprinkling of the material from said hopper and off tHe surface of said receiving member.
 4. A constant amount diffusion apparatus for seasoning powder or particles capable of spraying seasoning powder or particles rapidly and at a constant rate without appreciable moisture absorption, said apparatus comprising a receiving plate having a scalene V-shaped groove with a pair of flanges secured to the respective opposite ends thereof and having apexes of different height at upper portion thereof, a support shaft secured to one end of said plate, an interlock shaft secured to the other end of said plate, a frame having a traverse bearing means journaling said shafts horizontally to said traverse of said frame, a motor having a main shaft with an eccentric coupling an adjustment assembly detachably mounted on said interlocking shaft for rotation therewith and connected to said eccentric coupling, said adjustment assembly including a sequentially interconnected vertical interlock lever, a buffer member and a horizontal interlock lever, with the interposition of a cylindrical cap having a bottom member, a hopper on said frame having a lower open end above said receiving plate so that said V-shaped groove moves backwardly and forwardly therebelow to intermittently receive and discharge material from said hopper during operation of said motor. 